Piano-action



W. G. BETZ.

FIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15,1918.

Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI l.

fzmff @'/ZZKMZ 56? W. G. BETZ.

` PIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED AP11.15,1918.

1,389,290. Patented Aug. 30, 1921,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M1... m @Km UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'`

WILLIAM G. BETZ, OF kHAMIVIOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO STRAUBE PIANOCOMPANY.' OF HAMMOND, INDIANA7 A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

-IIANO-ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 30,1921.

Application filed April l5, 1918. Serial No. 228,631.

To all 'whom t may concern` y Be it known that T, VTLLTAM Gr. BETZ, a.citizen of the United States, residing at Hammond, in the county of Lakeand State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin VPiano-Actions, of which the followingis a full, clear, concise, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanyingV drawings,forming a part of this specication.

My invention relates to piano actions and has to do more particularlywith improvements for combination manual and automatic players, anobject being to provide improved meansy for controlling the action byvmanual and automatic operatingmeans. In my improved mechanism, when thepneumatic is actuated a comparatively long movement thereof is permittedand furthermore the abstract remains' stationary, as does also the' key,although there isa permanent pivotal connection extending` from y theabstract to the wippen.

Thus separate locking means for the keys is unnecessary.` This isbrought about by the provision of a so-'called double action orintermediate lever which is raised either by the key or pneumatic tooperate the action-hammer. lOther features of my invention will be moreparticularly pointed out in the ensuing part of the specification andappended Claims.

The present application concerns itself more particularly withimprovements over my Patent yNo. 922,247 for pianissimo devises.

' Referring now to the accompanying drawings which illustrate thepreferred forms of my invention#- Figure 1 is a vertical section throughthe upper portion .of an upright piano with the parts in their normal orunoperated posi.- tion;

Fig 2 shows the parts of Fig. 1 but with thekey depressed;

Fig. 3 isthe same as Fig.y 1 but with the pneumatic or bellows collapsed`and showing the key` in its normal or unoperated position;

Fig. 1 is an enlarged view, lpractically full size, showing a modifiedform;

Fig. 5 is aslightly reduced view of an-Y other modified form of myinvention; and

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the abstract of Fig. 5.

Referring now more inV detail to my invention it comprises the usualkey-bed kl() carrying a balance rail l1 which pivotally supports thekeys 12, these keys being guided at their front end by pins 13 overwhich a resilient stop '14 is placed preferably in the form of a feltwasher. A plurality of paper washers 15 are placed in position 'in orderto give the proper adjustment to the key l2. The rear end of thekey isconnected through a capstan 16 with a striker orabstract 17 which issupported against transverse displacement by a connector 18 extending tothe rail 19. The abstract 17 is connected to an intermediate ordouble-action link'20 at the pivot 21,these parts 17 and 20 alsocooperating through a cushioned shoulder r `stop 22 through which theintermediate lever 20 is directly raised when the abstract 17 is movedby the key.

This intermediate lever 2O is also operable by a pneumaticy or bellows23 which is' controlled from the wind chest and tracker bar in the usualmanner. The pneumatic 23 carries an adjustable stud 24;, which acts upona cushioned adjustable stop 25 carried by the intermediate lever 20.Thus this lever '20, which might be termed a doubleaction lever, may beoperated upon either by the key 12 through the abstract 17 for manualplaying, or by the pneumatic 23' for automatic playing, each movementbeing independent of the other. That is, when the abstract 1T is raisedby the key 12 the intermediate lever moves directly upward to Voperatethe action without affecting the pneui matic23 and whensaid pneumatic iscollapsed it elevates the free end of the double action lever 20 whichpivots at 21' and operates the action without lifting thepabstract 17the pressure thus exerted upon the intermediate lever 2O being effectiveto maintain the abstract and key 12 in their normal position. kThus itis unnecessary to provide a key stop under the keys for use whenautomatic playing is desired, the keys and alstracts being automaticallymaintained in their normal or unoperated position. lVhen theintermediate or double acting lever'20 is operated by `the collapse ofthe bellows 23 as indicated in Fig. 3, the operation is limited by thecushioned adjustable ystop 2T which is engaged by the resilient oryielding end of lever 20. Thus by the interposition of this yieldingstop, a more resilient action is produced.V This stop 27 does not comeinto play when the key is manually delever being spaced accordingly.

pressed as indicated in Fig. 2, but at that time the stop lat under theforward end of the `key is effective.

1n certain parts of the action including the wippen, the movement iswithin certain prescribed limits and of course this is also true of thekey and abstract. Also the space between the action and front of thepiano for the placing of the pneumatics is limited.

y means of my improved construction, a long stroke pneumatic may beused, the centers between the pivots of the double-action Thus a narrowpneumatic may be used and also it may-be set back from the front of thepiano and farther beneath the wippen. 1 am thus enabled to secure thelong stroke which is desirable, without the sacrifice of transversespace.

The action above the abstract 17 and double action lever 2O as connectedto the wippen 26 may be of the usual construction, that shown being of aknown make and including the usual action rail 26a pivotally supportingthe wippen 26. A jack 27a is pivotally supported upon the wippen 2G soas to be practically directly above the abstract 17 so that the upwardpressure is on practically straight line. rThe jack 27a engages theleather faced hammer butt 28, the stop extension on the jack 27 beingadapted to engage the jack stop 29 when the jack is raised, whereby thecontinued upward movement of the jack causes it to free itself 'from thehammer butt as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 so that the hammer is free tostrike the string and rebound. The usual damper rod 30 is also providedbeing operated in a well-known manner by the extension of the wippen 26.However, as already referred to, this upper portion of the action nechani sm may vary.

In Figs. 5 and G is shown a modified form of my invention in which theabstract 17 instead of being made of .one piece as shown in the otherfigures, has its rear vardly extending arm 17a preferably made of aseparate piece and secured to the shank of the abstract which carriesatits upper end the cushioned shoulder corresponding to the stop 22already described. By means of this construction it is possible tolengthen the 'Fulcrum on the intermediate lever 20 and without requiringa broad wood blank for the abstract 17 as in the case of Figs. 1 to 4;.Also in the form shown in Fig. 5 I provide a double action lever 20having a slightly different yielding stop 20a, this end 2()a beingslotted almost back to the screw 25 so as to provide the greatest lengthto the stop end 20, This lever 2O is also thinned at 2Gb, so as toproduce further resiliency.

It will be apparent that by means of my improved construction it ispossible to get the proper stroke of the wippen 26 and also a longstroke of the bellows without unduly extending the wippen toward thefront of the piano. This is because of the interposition of the doubleaction lever 2O which permits of any desired stroke of the bellows bysimply using` the proper pivotal centers. At the same time the bellowsmay be moved back from the front of the piano. This is important in viewof the small amount of space at this point. Furthermore, by my improvedconstruction, the automatic and manual mechanism may each have its ownstop, the automatic mechanism when actuated being stopped by theresilient arm at the end of the intermediate lever 20 while the manualmechanism, when actuated, is stopped by the yielding washer under theforwarded cud of the key. Thus there is independent regulation of thestroke or movement of the hammer mechanism for both manual and automaticplaying and there is no interference between the stops. Also when thekeys are pneumatically operated it is unnecessary to provide any locktherefor as the pressure upon the abstract 17 automatically maintainsthe abstract and key in their normal position thereby preventing anyundue actuation thereof.

Another important feature is that there is no stop on the wippen and thestops are so placed that there is no substantial pressure on any of thepivot bearings of the action when the stops come into play. Also thepneumatic stop, it will be noted, is such that the manual operation isnot affected in any way when the piano is manually played; the operationis the same as though no automatic player were there.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown severalpreferred forms thereof, but 1 understand that changes and modificationswill Areadily occur to those skilled in the art and therefore I do notdesire to be limited to the exact structures shown and described, butaim to cover all that which comes within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

Vilhat l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A piano action including an abstract having at its upper end arearwardly and upwardly extending arm provided with a wippen operatingshoulder at the upper end of the abstract, a wippen, an action leverintermediately pivoted to the wippen, and abstract and pneumaticconnections to opposite ends of the action lever.

2. A. piano action including an abstract having at its upper end arearwardly and upwardly extending arm so as to leave a shoulder' at theupper end of the abstract, a wippen, an action lever intermediatelypivoted to the wippen, and connected at its rear end to abstract arm soas to bring it above the shoulder for direct operation when the pwippen.

abstract is operated, and a pneumatic connection to the front end Vofthe intermediate lever for operating the wippen independent.

of the abstract.

3. A piano action including an abstract having at its upper end arearwardly and upwardly extending arm Yso as to leave a shoulder at theupper end of the abstract, a wippen, an action lever intermediatelypivoted to the wippen and connected at its rear end to abstract arm soas to bring it above the shoulder for direct operation when the abstractis operated, and a pneumatic connection to thefront end of theintermediate lever for operating the wippen independent of the abstract,and yielding stops respectively efi'ective when the pneumatic or theabstract is used, one of said stops being independently eiectivewhen thepneumatic is used and theother when the abstract is used.

,4. A piano. action including an abstract, a wippen, anrintermediatelever pivotally connected to the wippen and to theabstract, and apneumatic operating upon a point of the intermediate lever to permitgreater movement of the pneumatic than of the 5. A piano actionincluding an abstract, a wippen, an intermediate lever pivotallyconnected t0 the wippen and to the abstract, and a pneumatic operatingupon a point of the intermediate lever to permit greater movelnent ofthe pneumatic than of the wippen, and a direct connection between theabstract and lever for moving the lever independent of the pneumatic. v

6. A piano action including an abstract, a key abutting the lower end ofthe abstract, a wippen,a pneumatic, and connections between the abstractand wippen effective for operating the wippen by the pneumatic andforcibly maintaining the abstract and key in their `normal position.

7. A piano action including a wippen, an abstract, a pneumaticallyyoperated intermediate lever, pivotally connected to the abstract and tothe wippen forV operating the the action lever.

action, and a stop extension directly on the intermediate lever forlimiting the movement of the action.

r8. A piano action including a wippen, an

abstract, a pneumatically operated intermediate lever pivotallyconnected to the abstract and to the wippen Jfor operating the action,and a resilient stop extension directly on the intermediate lever forlimiting the movement oli' the intermediate lever.

9.A piano action including an abstract i having its upper end providedwith a shoulder and with a rearwardly extending part,

a wippen, an actionlever intermediately pivoted to the wippen, andabstract and pneumatic connections to opposite ends of 10. A pianoaction including an abstract iavnw 1 s u a 3er en r c w a aou l g t u dp ovidel 1th sl l der and with a rearwardly extending part,.a

wippen, an action lever intermediately pivoted to the wippen, andconnected at its rear end to the abstract arm so as to bring 1t abovethe shoulder for direct operation when der and with a rearwardlyextendingpart,

a wippen, an action lever intermediately pivoted to the wippen andconnected `at its rear end to the abstract arm so as to bring it abovethe shoulder 'for direct operation when the abstract is operated, andapneumatic connection to the front end of the intermediate lever foroperating the wippen independent of the abstract, and yielding stopsrespectively effective when the pneumatic or the abstract is used, oneof said stops being independently effective when the pneumatic is usedand the other when the abstract is used.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 9th da of April,A. D. 1918.

` ILLIAM G. BETZ.

